Another life
by doc boy
Summary: If Harry would have been raised by his parents, would his life have turned out differently? Would he have been happier? Join me as we see Harry grow up, form friendships and live the right way any kid should... A revised and improved version of my old story 'the boy who lived'...
1. Chapter 1 what the future holds

Another life

I do not own Harry Potter

Chapter 1 what the future holds

It was a cold winter night, it was snowing, and the wind blew softly across the crispy white terrain that was covered by the snow. It is the 31st of January and everyone was settling in for a nice family dinner. Well, almost everyone. Our story begins in Godric's Hollow. A sleepy little town in Western England where everyone knew everyone. Our family in question is the Potter family. Lily and James Potter, their eight year old son Harry and his four year old sister, Gwen. Lily and James were childhood friends. They knew each other since they were eleven. They both met at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. While not getting along at first, the two warmed up to each other over the years. James being a man with a firm build, wore glasses over his eyes and had black messy hair that couldn't be restrained no matter how hard you tried. Lily on the other hand, had a slender and very soft form, fiery red hair and green loving eyes. Both of their kids resembled them a lot. Harry had his father's messy hair but had his mother's green eyes, while Gwen had her mother's green eyes and red hair but wore glasses over her eyes like her father did. Both shared similar characteristics to their parents both in looks and personality. Lily being a kind, loving and nurturing person, yet rather serious, while James was just as caring loving but was also a humorous goofball. Despite being serious, Lily still appreciated humor and laughter and always enjoyed it when their family would goof around with each other as long as it was appropriate.

Today was Harry's eighth birthday. He had some friends over, they had some cake and played some games. Now it was time to sleep. Once the teeth were brushed and the pajamas were worn, Lily put Gwen to bed while James did the same with Harry. While laying in bed James asked.

"Would you like a bedtime story?"

"Yeah." Smiled the boy.

"Which one would you like?"

"Could you tell me about Hogwarts?" asked the boy. James looked surprised. Harry hadn't asked much about it before. But seeing as he recently started showing signs of magic and they brought it up, he figured it was time for him to know about it. James tried to find the words.

"What do you want to know about it?" he asked.

"What's it like there? What is it exactly?"

James became focused.

"Hogwarts is a school where you learn about magic and how to use it properly."

"You mean I'm gonna do magic tricks?" asked Harry with excitement.

"Only when you're in school son. You are not allowed to use magic outside of school."

"Why not?"

""It's complicated. It's in order to protect the magical world. We don't want non magical people knowing about it. It makes things messy."

"How come?"

"Because to them magic does not exist. If people start seeing magic happening, it could cause troubles. People would think they have gone mad and it would lead to panic and a lot of questions we don't want to answer. Plus they might start taking advantage of us."

"I see…" sounded Harry.

After a short pause he asked.

"Does it hurt?"

"What?"

"Using magic."

James chuckled.

"No silly. It doesn't hurt at all. As long as you don't use violent spells."

"I don't want to use violent spells."

"That's good then, don't."

After a short while Harry spoke again.

"So what kind of classes do they have there?"

James rubbed his chin and pretended to be deep in thought.

"You know I'm afraid I can't answer that just yet…"

"Why not?" asked Harry in alarm.

"We need to make time for a commercial break." He said, pretending to sound deep. Harry laughed.

"And whoops, we're back." Said James.

Between laughs Harry spoke.

"Come on Dad... What kind of classes does Hogwarts have?"

"A lot son. There's transfiguration, charms, potions and various other stuff…"

"But what are those subjects?" persisted the boy.

James smiled and kissed his son on the forehead.

"I'll explain to you tomorrow Harry. Right now it's time to go to sleep. There'll be plenty of time tomorrow.

"Oh man…"

"Tomorrow's another day Harry. Then you can ask me all the questions you want."

"Okay." He said in defeat as his father kissed his cheek and tucked him in.

"Nighty night Harry."

"Night Dad." Said Harry and curled into a ball. James shut the light and left the room and went towards the kitchen. There he joined Lily who sat at the table drinking a hot cup of tea.

"He's really anxious to go to Hogwarts." He said and sat down beside her.

"Can you blame him?" she smirked at him. He chuckled.

"No I cannot."

She nodded. Soon afterward she added.

"It's coming soon you know. Three years from now, he'll receive the same letter we did." She said and took a sip from her tea.

"Yeah. I wonder if he's gonna make Gryffindor like we did."

"Bet he will." Said Lilly and put her cup down.

"You know Gwen should be showing signs of magic soon too."

"Yeah but she's got time till then." She replied and drank the rest of her tea.

"You know I don't think Petunia will be pleased when she finds out about Harry's development."

James shrugged.

"Nothing we can do about that."

"I know I just wish I could get her to be a little more open minded."

"She'll come around someday.

"I hope so."

James nodded.

"Well for now I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure you sister and brother in law are just afraid of it. You may have had some rivalries with her but she did not have that with Harry. She knows he doesn't bite. Maybe when she sees him once she knows he's a wizard she wouldn't be so anxious about it."

"Perhaps not." Said Lily as James went to the tap to drink some water. After he drank he turned to her.

"You want to play wizard's chess?" he asked from the kitchen. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Thought you'd never ask…" she said.

To be continued…

So there it is. I'll be honest, up until recently I was seriously considering retirement but I decided to stay for now. Hopefully I still got the touch but I'll leave it to you to decide on that.

So anyway like I said in the description, this is a revised version of the 'boy who lived' story I wrote a few years ago. I hope you like it. If you so kindly would leave a review I'd greatly appreciate it.

Peace out…


	2. Chapter 2 friendship

Chapter 2 friendship

It has been three years since Harry's eighth birthday. Now he's eleven. He walked down towards the kitchen from his bedroom and yawned.

"Good morning." He said. His mother smiled at him.

"Good morning Harry. Happy birthday." She said and kissed him on the forehead.

"Thanks Mom." He said and smiled at her. He looked around.

"Where's Dad?" he asked.

"He already left for work." She said and Harry nodded. James Potter was a healer at St. Mungo's hospital. Lily on the other hand decided to stick to the muggle world and is an elementary school teacher.

"Eat up Harry. Breakfast is ready." She said and they sat down and ate. Since it was Harry's birthday he knew he would be receiving his Hogwarts letter today and he couldn't be more excited. When he left for school that morning he was disappointed to find out his letter hadn't arrived yet. He rode in the school bus, eager to get home that afternoon. He got into class and sat down beside his friends.

"Hi Harry." Said his friend Richie.

"Hey Richie, good morning." He said and shook his hand. Richie has been a good fried of Harry's since first grade. He was really going to miss him when he moved to Hogwarts. If he moved to Hogwarts….

Richie then presented to Harry a can of juice.

"Happy birthday." He smiled. Harry returned the smile.

"Thanks mate." He said and shook his hand.

"Good morning everyone. Please take your seats." Said Mrs. Florence, their teacher. Harry sat down and they started class.

That day, time crawled at a snail's pace. It got so bad, and Harry was so bored, he literally began to count down the remaining seconds till the end of the class, just to do something to occupy himself, other than listening to Mrs. Florence's boring talking. Finally it was lunch break. Harry sat down by one of the table and began eating. Ahead of him, he could see Hermione Granger. She too was a childhood friend of his. While other students made fun of her for being shy, nerdy and quirky, he found her to be smart, witty and funny. While shy towards others, she was actually kind energetic once you get to know her. He was lucky to have that privilege. He was going to miss her greatly as well after he leaves next year, he thought as he sighed…

"Hi Harry." Said a cheerful voice. He looked up. To his surprise, Hermione was sitting in front of him, offering him a cupcake.

"Happy birthday." She smiled at him. He smiled in return and took the cupcake from her.

"Thanks Hermione, that's very nice of you." He said, she nodded sweetly at him.

"So did you see that new movie? What's it called… fight for survival?"

"The one about the aliens?"

"Yeah! It's so cool! Did you see it?"

Harry smiled sheepishly at her enthusiasm.

"Not yet no. I've been kinda busy."

"Aw shucks… you gotta check it out. There's this big alien invasion and the president of the United States is like…" she made a gasping sound and plastered a shocked expression no her face. By now Harry didn't hear the rest of her rant. He was too amused by her funny behavior. They didn't always talk about movies though. They often talked about their lives and confided in one another.

"…So yeah, that's why you gotta see this movie…" she said and stopped to catch her breath. After a few seconds she spoke.

"So, how're your parents doing? She asked.

"They're fine. Mom's preparing the students for the spring exams and Dad's been busy with work. How about you?"

"Same as always. I can never understand how or why my parents wanted to become dentists. They essentially spend most of their days, staring at people's teeth. It's bloody disgusting!..." she muttered and they both laughed. After a short pause Harry spoke.

"Yeah, you got a point. How's Mini?" he asked.

Mini was Hermione's pet cat.

"She's as cute as ever. You should see her when I point the laser at her. She starts chasing it. It's just super adorable!" she said with joy. Harry smiled at her. Suddenly the bell rang.

"Time to go you two…" said Richie as he passed by them.

"Let's go Hermione." Said Harry as they headed back to class. This period was science class, which was Hermione's favorite. Harry liked it too but wasn't as strong in it as she was. They were learning about various types of fossil fuels and how they're used. Most of this was going over Harry's head. During recess he approached Hermione.

"Hey Hermione, when she spoke about crude oil, is that the same kind of oil they use cars and such?"

She shook her head.

"No that's benzene. Crude oil is what they mine out of the ground. After that they process it in refineries to make various types of fuel…" she explained. He nodded and wrote it down in his notebook.

"Thanks." He said.

"Hey Harry!" called another voice from the door. He looked up.

"What's up Dan?"

"We're going to out the yard to play some soccer! You want to come?"

"You bet!" he smiled and joined his friends in a friendly ball game. The girls of the class failed to understand how the boys could play outside in such cold weather when there's snow on the ground. But that's boys for you they reasoned…

Later that day, Harry returned home and put his bag down and hung up his coat, glad to be in the heat again.

"I'm home!" he called out. Nobody answered. His parents were still at work, he reasoned. He looked under the mail slot but didn't find anything. Growing nervous, he walked towards the kitchen and found a small pile of mail on it. With growing excitement, he approached it and started sorting out the letters. When he saw the envelope with the all too familiar seal, he jumped for joy.

"Yes! I'm in! Woohoo!..." he yelled and opened the letter. It read.

 _"Dear Mr. Potter,_

 _We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are requested to present yourself at King's Cross station on the 1_ _st_ _of September, at platform nine and three quarters. The train leaves at eleven o'clock precisely. So do not be late. Enclosed with this letter is a list of required supplies for your first year at Hogwarts. Please send us a letter with a conformation of your arrival by August the 1st_

 _Hoping to see you there this term,_

 _Deputy headmaster,_

 _Minerva McGonagall"_

Harry smiled for joy and kissed the piece of parchment and placed it back on the table, grinning to himself.

Later that day his parents returned.

"Mom, Dad! I've been accepted to Hogwarts!" he said to them happily. They smiled too as Harry hugged his mother and James ruffled his son's hair.

"Congratulations Harry."

"Good for you Son." Said James.

Soon after Harry began to process his joy, he was overcome by a great sadness, knowing that in a few months he would have to say goodbye to his friends. He would hardly ever see them again, and friendships he's come to love, would eventually fade away over time… he sighed sadly as images of Richie, Hermione and various other friends of his flashed through his mind…

To be continued…

So there it is. I hadn't initially planned to put Hermione in here and have that kind of backstory. I thought it would be nice if she and Harry knew each other from before Hogwarts. For those of you who are wondering, their relationship right now is mostly platonic. They may be close but they see each other as friends at this point.

Anyway I hope you guys liked it. I'd appreciate it if you review and I'll see you in the next chapter…

Peace out…


	3. Chapter 3 sad misunderstandings

Chapter 3 sad misunderstandings

Shortly after Harry got his letter, he and his parents went to Diagon Ally to get his supplies for his first year at Hogwarts. While pretending to be happy, Harry felt rather sad because he knew the time for him to say goodbye to his friends is drawing near. Most of his peers didn't notice he was sullen but Hermione and Richie did notice.

"What's wrong Harry?" asked Hermione, as she sat in front of Harry at lunch. He was staring blankly at his meal.

"I'm okay."

"I can tell when you're lying Harry. What's wrong? I want to help you."

Harry sighed.

"I have to leave next year."

Hermione looked a little shocked and saddened.

"Leave? Where?"

"I'm moving to a different school."

"But why? What's wrong with this one? I thought you liked it here." She said in a hurt voice. Feeling guilty for making her sad, Harry began to stammer.

"I… I do Hermione. Really. It's just… I found out about a school that might be better for me. More compatible for my abilities…"

"And this school is not good enough for you? Godric Elementary does not fit your standards?" she asked coldly.

"It's not like that Hermione… I really want to stay here but I can't. I would be blowing a huge opportunity…"

Trying to compromise, Hermione asked.

"Would you at least be able to stay in touch?" she asked in a slightly hurt but hopeful voice.

Harry closed his eyes sadly.

"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry Hermione. I wish I could explain it better but I…"

"No you explained it just fine." She cut him off. He looked at her sadly.

"We've known each other since kindergarten, Harry. I thought we would stay friends for life but I guess your education is so important to you, you're willing to put your best friend behind and not even bother to stay in touch with her. I get it. I guess I'll leave you to it then…" she said, got up and took her food with her.

"Hermione…" Harry pleaded as she walked away.

"Hermione please…" he begged as she got farther and farther away from him.

"Leave me alone Harry…" she called back and he could swear he could hear in her voice she was on the verge of tears. At that moment Harry knew he had lost her. He sighed sadly and sat back down and picked at his food with his fork. He really wished he could tell her. But muggles are not allowed to know about Hogwarts, that was the rule. She wouldn't believe him anyway if he told her. Odds are he would get a similar reaction from Richie. Since he lost his two best friends, he might as well go to Hogwarts right now…

That night, Harry had trouble falling asleep. Hermione was a dear friend to him and it pained him to lose her friendship. After he spoke to Richie he grew distant as well. It took a few hours for Harry to fall asleep, but not before a single tear fell off his cheek and made contact with the pillow…

The ensuing weeks and months for Harry were sad and lonely ones. He tried hanging out with his other friends but it just didn't feel right without having Richie and Hermione by his side. By the beginning of March, Hermione looked sad too. Everyone could tell the trio fell apart and felt the emotional impact it had on them but did not intervene. Hermione felt bad about the way she treated Harry and wanted to apologize but could not escape the hurt she felt because she felt like Harry didn't value her anymore. Soon it was the beginning of June and school will be over in less than a month. On June 10th it was Hermione's eleventh birthday and for once she wasn't happy about it. Her best friend would be going away soon and they did not have the chance to make up. She wanted to part on a good note with him but did not know how to approach it. When, she came home, she received a shock, which made things, simpler, clearer and more complicated and painful at the same time. It was a letter from a place called Hogwarts. One she's never heard of before. She read the letter and rejoiced. But after a few seconds, she was overcome with shame, guilt, grief and regret. Now she understood where Harry was leaving to and why he couldn't tell her about it. She now knew he still valued her like he always did but had to stay vague about his answers for his own good. By misinterpreting his words she might have singlehandedly ruined their friendship. She dropped the letter and ran to the telephone and dialed Harry's house number. After a few rings, Lily picked up.

"Hello?" said her kind voice.

"Hello, Mrs. Potter? This is Hermione Granger." She said timidly, feeling slightly ashamed of herself. In the brief pause before her response, Hermione could feel Lily's attitude towards her cool off.

"Hello Hermione, how can help you?"

"Is Harry home?" she asked slightly panicking.

Puzzled by the edgy tone of her voice, Lily said.

"He is but I don't think he wants to speak to you dear." She said honestly.

"Please Lily, this is very urgent. I must talk to him." Begged Hermione.

Feeling empathy for Hermione and her will to try to fix what she broke, Lily softened.

"Okay. Why don't you come over and let Harry decide if he wants to talk to you?"

Thrilled, Hermione smiled.

"Yes, thank you Lily. I'll be right there." She said and hung up. Stuffed the Hogwarts letter in her pocket and darted off into the distance on her bicycle.

Lily noted that it was the first time Hermione called her by her first name and that if Hermione was so eager to talk to Harry, she might want to do more than just apologize.

Five minutes later, the regret stricken girl was knocking on her door.

"Come on in Hermione." Said Lily as she opened the door for her.

"Where's Harry?" she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

"He's in his room." Said Lily a little timidly and Hermione flew up the stairs.

Whatever was going on, it must have been really big and pained her greatly, mused Lily. She's never seen Hermione so desperate. She was beginning to feel a little bad about cold to her earlier.

Hermione knocked on Harry's door.

"Harry? Harry? Are you in there? It's me." She called anxiously.

"I can hear you just fine Hermione." He said coldly.

"Will you please let me in? I have to talk to you, it's important."

No answer.

"Please…" she sobbed softly as tears came down her eyes. As soon as he heard her tears Harry rushed to the door and swung it open to find her standing there with her head down and in tears. Never being able to stand seeing her cry, especially when it's by him, Harry gave in to his instincts and wrapped his arms around her in hug to calm her down. A few seconds later he let her go and placed a hand on her shoulder and the other on her arm and said.

"Come on in and we'll talk." He said kindly and let her in as Lily looked on with concern. Whatever was going on it pained Hermione greatly. She believed she owed the poor girl an apology when all of this is done…

The two kids sat on Harry's bed as Hermione tried to calm down.

"Hermione what's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I'm sorry Harry. I'm so sorry… I should have trusted when you tried to say you still value our friendship…"

Harry's look melted with sorrow. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione it's alright. I now understand why you saw it that way. I wish I could tell you what was really going on but I can't because I…"

"You don't understand Harry. I'm going too…" she said and a smile broke through her tears. Harry blinked.

"What?" he asked, surprised.

"I'm going to Hogwarts too…" she and smiled at him sweetly and took out her letter and showed it to him. Harry stared in shock and then smiled.

"I'm sorry of how I treated you Harry. I didn't know you were not allowed to talk about it but now that we're both in it I understand. Would you accept a foolish girl's apologies?" she asked and put in a puppy dog's face to try and convince him. Instead of answering, Harry brought her into another hug and rocked her in his arms.

"I could never reject your apologies Hermione…" he said happily as she smiled sweetly in his embrace. They parted soon after, blushing slightly. They smiled and sighed.

"You want to go get some ice cream?" Harry asked after a short silence.

"I'd love to Harry. My treat." He said and they both smiled and walked down the stairs with huge grins on their faces, much to Lily's surprise and bewilderment. Even though she would have to wait a bit, she would get her explanations from Harry and Hermione would get her apologies from her…

To be continued…

So yeah I'll admit, Harry and Hermione seem to have a bit of crush on each other and it might have been like that a bit in the previous chapter as well but they just don't know it yet. I'll admit I had trouble admitting it in the end of the last chapter so I apologize for being a little misleading.

Also, I know Hermione's birthday is not in June but I changed it for story purposes.

Anyway, Harry and Hermione have made up and grown closer. Better yet, they don't have to say goodbye to each other at the end of the summer. What adventures lied ahead? Only time well tell…

Reviews are most welcome…

Peace out…


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